Mandatory Diamonds
by cashewdani
Summary: Buffy has to marry Spike to keep custody of Dawn (WIP) Part 20 up now!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Mandatory Diamonds  
  
Author: Danielle  
  
E-mail: PrincessCashew@hotmail.com  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Spoilers: Up to Once More with Feeling  
  
Summary: Child protective services looks down on single caregiver so Buffy has to find a "pretend husband". Xander and Anya are honeymooning; Giles is in England, so Spike is her only hope. Fic Challenge from Pamela J. Anderson off of the BuffyspikeDiaries Mailing List.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN, and whoever has rights to these people in court. Do not sue me, I'm poor anyway. The fic idea isn't mine either, it belongs to Pamela, and as of now, there are two other people working on this same challenge.  
  
Feedback: I would love it so much if you sent me some! Just pass it on to PrincessCashew@hotmail.com  
  
Distribution: Whoever wants it can have it, just e-mail me first so I can come and visit. It will be posted at my site at http://www.geocities.com/princesscashew/Take_It_All_Away.html  
  
Fic Requirements + She falls for him after he becomes the prefect spouse + He acts romantic to Buffy and gets her to love him + Rated R or even Hint Hint NC-17  
  
~ Part 1 ~  
  
"I know Ms. Summers, that you want to keep your sister living with you, and I understand your particular circumstances with your father being in Europe without any contact possible and your mother deceased, but it is very uncommon that custody is granted to a single care-giver. Especially someone as young as you are without a complete education or a job. I think it's very important that we do what is best for Dawn, don't you?"  
  
"Well of course I do, I'm her sister, and I love her. Which is exactly why I don't understand what this meeting is about Mrs. Gont. You would rather move Dawn out of our house and put her somewhere with complete strangers because they happen to have some gold bands on their fingers?"  
  
"That's not what I'm suggesting at all Ms. Summers. The matter of income becomes important as well. You at the moment have no source of it. It's a concern to me that when the little bit of your mother's savings that you have left runs out, you will have no way of supporting either Dawn or yourself."  
  
"I can get a job, I've been looking for one, going to interviews. There is a job available, through one of my friends, and even though I would rather not mix my personal life with my career, I can be working tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock. I assure you that I will do whatever I can to give Dawn a proper home. Just give me a chance."  
  
"Even with a job Ms. Summers, Social Services policy still favors a two parent household to a single one." She reached into a desk drawer and removed a Polaroid of a young couple with a dog. "There is a family in the area, Dawn would still be able to go to the same school, and I'm sure that a visiting arrangement could be worked out at a later date."  
  
Buffy interrupted the woman, her voice shaking a little as she spoke. "Thank you very much Mrs. Gont, but I would like a little time to think this over. Can we meet again, a week from now? I need to talk to Dawn and try to see if there's something I can work out."  
  
"Don't put this off for too long Ms. Summers. We need to get Dawn's placement confirmed. The state would like this process to go as quickly as possible, for what is best for her."  
  
"I'm aware. Thank you very much for your time."  
  
"My secretary will make you an appointment on the way out." Buffy weakly shook hands with the social worker, and then straightened out her burgundy jacket. She was in trouble, and she knew it.  
  
She got up to leave, and turned around when she reached the glass door. "If I was married, would Dawn's placement be as large of an issue?"  
  
"There's still the matter of income."  
  
"If I was married, and my husband or I held jobs, would Dawn's placement be as difficult for me to obtain?"  
  
"If those were the situations Ms. Summers, I would see no reason why the State would object. But they're not at this time."  
  
"Well, thank you again. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. I will be in touch." She closed the door behind her. She had seven days to change her life. 


	2. Chapter 2

~ Part 2 ~  
  
"We got a postcard from Las Vegas today, looks as though the wedding went well. They're on their way to the Grand Canyon." Dawn sat at the kitchen table, fingering through the mail. "Oh, and Giles called while you were out. He said that he'll call back later once he gets out of the airport in London."  
  
"So he made it there ok?"  
  
"I'm guessing. He swears he's going to come back to visit soon, but he doesn't know when that can be."  
  
"I know, doesn't want me to be too dependent on him."  
  
"Buffy, come on. You know that's not really fair."  
  
"I know Dawnie. I know. It's just been a really long day, and I kind of need Giles to be dependent on right now."  
  
"Things didn't go that great with the social worker did they? I 'm sorry Buffy about the grades and getting to school late. I'm going to try harder."  
  
"It's not your fault Dawn, whatever happens I want you to know that. I'm going to do everything that I can so that nothing happens, but if it does you can't think you did anything wrong. It'll be me who did something wrong."  
  
"What do we have to do, so that nothing happens?"  
  
"I'm going to work something out. Why don't you go do some homework, I have to make some phone calls."  
  
Dawn got up from her chair, grabbing her knapsack off of the floor. "Got the message, going upstairs." She turned when she reached the entryway. "Is Spike coming over tonight while you go patrol?"  
  
At the mention of Spike, Buffy froze. That kiss they had shared was still on her mind, in fact it hardly ever left. She kept telling herself that it was Sweet's spell, and that she just needed to feel something after all these months instead of empty, but all of those reasons didn't take away that it happened. "I don't know. We'll have to see."  
  
"I haven't seen him since a few nights ago, when we were all singing. What happened after you both left?"  
  
"Nothing. Don't worry about it. And maybe Spike'll show up tonight, but for right now, the phone calls."  
  
"Going. Going." She left the room.  
  
Buffy went to pick up the receiver when she heard the back door close behind her. Turning, she saw him. "Speak of the devil." She muttered under her breath.  
  
"Aw luv, I might be the Big Bad but I'm not the devil. Got to have a lot more evil under my belt to get that title."  
  
"What are you doing here Spike?"  
  
"It's Friday Slayer. Figured keep up the ritual, crappy teen video and about six poker games with the Bit before you make your way back from patrol. Unless you have something else in mind." He winked at her, the scarred eyebrow sinking slowly.  
  
"About that."  
  
"What luv? Want another go?"  
  
"Not at all Spike. It wasn't real and I don't want you getting all hung up on it, but it looks like you already have. You can stay for Dawn, but don't think you're staying for me." She shuffled papers around in a drawer looking for her address book.  
  
His smirk faded and his lucid blue eyes clouded over. "Then I'll stay. Go back to whatever you were doing." He followed the same path that Dawn had, duster flapping against denimed calves.  
  
She didn't want to act like this, but she couldn't let him get to her. It was too bad that he always did. 


	3. Chapter 3

~ Part 3 ~  
  
Buffy tapped her ballpoint on the yellow pad, occasionally tucking the pen cap between her teeth. "Think dammit, think. Seven days. Ok, gotta find a husband." She looked down at her list. "Giles, in England someplace. Xander, having sex in a motel for his honeymoon. Maybe if I could find Jonathon. Oh my God what am I even thinking." She threw the paper across the room where it made a hollow thump against the wall.  
  
"Whatcha doing luv?"  
  
"Working, which last time I checked, didn't involve you."  
  
"Harsh tonight aren't we? What's got your knickers all twisted anyway?" He moved closer towards the thing she had so violently tossed away.  
  
"Oh, don't even think about touching that."  
  
"What's a matter Buffy? Writing torrid sex novels about us?" She groaned as he scooped up the tablet. "Or maybe multiple people?" He wagged his eyebrow suggestively. "Who would have guessed your mind worked like that."  
  
"Spike, it's not that at all. You really are disgusting."  
  
"So what is it? Cause if you don't tell I'm just going to keep on guessing. Future conquests maybe? Guys you want to tape your blooming porno career? Or participate in it perhaps? Like the idea of the last one I think."  
  
"Just shut up already! You make me so pissed! It's a list of guys I could marry, all right? And before you even start, and I swear I'll stake you if you do, it's for Dawn. I need to find a husband so they won't take Dawn away. So if you'd leave me be so I can do this, I'd really appreciate it."  
  
"I'm sorry luv. I didn't know." He bent down and it looked like he was placing the papers back onto the wood floor, but instead he rotated his back to face her. "Let me help." He took one of her hands into his own. "I know you'll never ask me for it, and I know you probably don't want it, but I want to give it."  
  
She tried to pull away, but he only tightened his grip. Lowering himself onto one knee, he looked up at her on the sofa. "Spike, don't do this."  
  
"Look, I know this means shit to you, but I love you. I do. And I love your sister and I'm not going to see her taken away when I can do something about it. Maybe you want nothing to do with me, but she does, and I'll do anything for her. You know that. Now, I don't have a ring or a little speech planned out, but let me help Buffy. Let me be your husband."  
  
She felt a small tingle run up and down her back as she looked at his hopeful face. "I'll let you do it. For Dawn."  
  
"If that's what you'll give me, I'm more than happy to oblige."  
  
"I actually still have the skull ring up in my jewelry box, if you want me to get it."  
  
"Kept it as a keepsake pet?"  
  
"Don't really know. Just have it." His smirk showed that he knew. She couldn't get rid of it; even back then he'd still had a little power over her.  
  
"Well go fetch it and tell Niblet to come down here to hear the news. And we have a wedding to plan. Still want "Wind Beneath My Wings" cause I might actually give into that this time." She walked away as he continued to speak in the other room. What had she gotten herself into? 


	4. Chapter 4

~ Part 4 ~  
  
"So you're really going to do it? Get married! You and Spike together! I couldn't have picked someone better if I tried! Oooh, do I get to wear a pretty dress? Can it be green? Please please please pick green bridesmaids dresses."  
  
"No bridesmaids Dawn. We're getting married at the courthouse by a judge. We're going to sign the papers, and it'll be done."  
  
"What do you mean it'll be done? No dinner after, or bouquet tossing, or cake cutting? It's bad enough that Anya and Xander got all crazy and decided to just get married already without anyone there."  
  
"I'd love to have everyone be here, Giles and Xander and Anya, and to have a big wedding with a party and a gorgeous white dress, but it's not what can be right now."  
  
"You're not going to have a dress?" Dawn looked even more crestfallen if that was possible. "But you even have that whole notebook of clippings Buffy."  
  
"Just because I have some pictures cut out of magazines in a drawer doesn't mean anything."  
  
"Some? There must be like over a hundred. You've had them for as long as I can remember. You even made Mom subscribe to Modern Bride Magazine for three years."  
  
"Another time I'll get to wear a dress. Just not this one."  
  
"Where's Spike going to sleep?"  
  
"What do you mean where's he going to sleep? In his crypt, where he's always slept."  
  
"I just figured that he'd be here all the time after this."  
  
"Figured wrong. He has his life, we have ours. This is just a paper deal. Why don't we go downstairs? He's probably still in the living room talking to himself."  
  
  
  
Buffy had gone into the kitchen and was trying to encourage Willow and Tara to let her work at the Magic Box, even if it was only until she found another job, as well as passing along that they'd be needed as witnesses as soon as Buffy and Spike had made appointments with the right people.  
  
"You're really going to marry her?"  
  
"Sure Lil' Bit. It's what needs to be done. And it'll be horrible having to live with the two women I love more than anything."  
  
"Buffy doesn't seem to think you're going to be living here."  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"I mean she said you'd still be in the crypt and that it was only a deal on paper."  
  
"Did she really? Isn't that interesting." He was fuming, eyes flickering slightly gold instead of blue.  
  
Buffy sauntered into the room, a big smile on her face. "It's a done deal. We have two witnesses, an appointment for seven Tuesday night, and I have a job. That Mrs. Gont woman is going to have nothing left to say."  
  
"She might not, but I do."  
  
"I think I'm going to go do some more homework." Dawn quickly picked herself up and headed past her sister.  
  
"What's your problem now Spike?"  
  
"Not letting me even live in the house? What am I, a disobedient dog?"  
  
"Phrase it however you like but I don't need the undead staying in my house."  
  
"How are we supposed to look like a married couple then? You start to think about that Buff? I'm pretty sure they follow these custody cases as closely as they follow green card attempts."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"What did you think was going to happen, you'd show them the license and they'd go along their merry way never to be heard from again?" He looked at her. "You did think that didn't you. God you can be such a bint sometimes."  
  
"That's not what I thought at all. I just thought that, umm, I'd cleverly explain your absence."  
  
"Right Slayer. But I really have a feeling that they're just going to be dropping by, checking up on things just like they've been doing. Conducting interviews, making sure that this is not exactly what you want it to be, a deal on paper. What would the point be of them wanting to put Dawn into a home with two parents if one of them is nonexistent?"  
  
"I'm sorry, is that what you want me to say?"  
  
"Say whatever you want now luv, but just a little while ago you said you'd let me help her, so I'm going to be here as much as I can. Maybe you don't want to think of me as your husband, I bloody well doubt you'd want to, but I'm going to think of myself as her guardian."  
  
"Fine. If that's what you want to do."  
  
"It is. Oh, and by the way pet, I think Social Services expects us to share a bed."  
  
"That's a topic for a whole other time. I really don't have the patience for it right now Spike."  
  
"I have time Slayer, why don't you enlighten me about some other things. Let me get to know you like any other fiancée knows their future mate. When during the month do you bleed?"  
  
"Ew, God that's disgusting."  
  
"Hey, for Dawn."  
  
"Right, right for Dawn." She sat down across from him on the sofa. It was going to be a long night. 


	5. Chapter 5

~ Part 5 ~  
  
"Doorbell! Buffy can you get that? I'm trying to curl my hair."  
  
"My wedding day and I'm getting the door. Better be a gigantic gift from you." It surprised Buffy that she was actually in a good mood about tonight, but she was. Talking to Spike hadn't been that bad, he really did always seem to get where she was coming from. She'd made a few sales while she'd been working and Willow said she was doing a great job. So all in all, a positive couple of days.  
  
"You're right about the gift." Spike was standing on the other side of the doorframe, a large white box in his hands.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"Some things I thought we needed for today." He placed it into her hands while she fingered the gold bow wrapped around the edges. "Come on, open it already."  
  
She sat down on the living room floor, gently untying the ribbon. Spike's Doc Martens tapped nervously on the floor as she slowly went about the process. "Someone's antsy. You getting cold feet?"  
  
"Not at all pet. Just want to see your face when you get to the contents is all."  
  
"It's not a blender is it?"  
  
"Slayer!"  
  
"I'm going." She pulled off the fabric and with her nails, ripped the tape from the sides of the box. The lid fell open, and she gasped. "Oh Spike!"  
  
"You like it?"  
  
"Like it? This is just like one that I have a picture of. How did you?" Her fingers touched the smooth satin, lingering for more time over the tiny beads adorning the dress. "I can't take this, God, it must have cost a fortune."  
  
"Doesn't matter, I want you to have it. You're not done yet either, there's some other stuff in there." She removed the strapless gown, gently laying it besides her. Underneath she found a navy garter, a veil, a pearl necklace and a pair of gold earrings. "Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. The earrings are your sister's and I have explicit orders to get them back. The dress and veil are new. The garter, as you can see, is blue. And the necklace was my mother's, so I think that counts as old enough."  
  
She had started to cry, looking at all her special wedding day supplies. "I wish my mother could be here."  
  
"Oh luv, I know." It had hit a nerve inside of him, her mention of Joyce. Really wasn't fair that she had to miss out on so much.  
  
"She always said she'd do my hair when I got married, make bunches of little ringlets all over my head." She began to laugh a little. "I wanted to wear her dress for my wedding, but one day Dawn accidentally cut it up to make clothes for her dollies. Probably for the best. The high necked all covered in lace look isn't my thing." She wiped at her face "Thank you Spike, for all this."  
  
"Figured I'd try to make this day as special as I could."  
  
"You're doing a pretty good job."  
  
"I'm glad you like it all pet, but don't you have some prepping to do? Want my bride to look her very best."  
  
"Well then, you'd better be on your way, I'm not even supposed to be seeing you before the ceremony."  
  
"Ah yes, the whole tradition thing. What's a matter Buffy, afraid that this marriage is going to wind up being a sham?"  
  
His words actually hurt a little. But he was right; this was just a sham. This was all for Dawn. Not that it really mattered anyway; she so wasn't interested in Spike. That kiss was just a one-time thing. And these tingly feelings she'd been getting were just anger or frustration. "So funny. But really get out of here. Bad enough I'm going to be living with you for God knows how long."  
  
"I'll see myself out." He headed back towards the door, boots clumping on the wooden floor.  
  
"Thank you." She said again.  
  
"You've already stated that luv. I know."  
  
"Not just the gifts. For doing this. For putting up with me and helping me to clean up messes that you had no part of. You're a good man."  
  
He smiled, a big grin that she could never really remember seeing before. "A man Buffy?"  
  
"Yes, a man." She gave him a little peck on the cheek. "I'll see you later. And you better look smashing." Heading up the stairs, she left the dumbstruck vampire in her wake.  
  
"Knew the dress was a good idea." 


	6. Chapter 6

~ Part 6 ~  
  
Willow wiped stray tears from her cheeks. "I can't believe you're getting married."  
  
"Wil, please. It's Spike. Remember Spike. The guy who's tried to kill us and end the world on multiple occasions."  
  
"But he's changed Buffy, you know that he has. He took care of Dawn. And he bought the dress. Anyway, it's your wedding day. No bad thoughts allowed."  
  
"Well if the happy ones are running your mascara I don't know what the bad ones will make you do." Buffy laughed as Willow ran for the mirror, checking her face for the undesired black streaks. "Kidding. Just kidding."  
  
"Not funny."  
  
"The look on your face was." Buffy picked up a brush and began pulling it through her hair. "I know I said I didn't want to use titles, like bride and groom, cause ew, but I want you to know that you're my maid of honor Willow. You've been my best friend and there's no one else that I'd rather have stand beside me at my wedding."  
  
"Aw Buffy." The tears began to drip from her eyelashes again. "I just wish everyone could be here. You know? Giles and Xander and Anya."  
  
"Well you and Tara are going to be there, and Dawn. So it'll be my little family instead of the big one. There's going to be another time that all of you can be there and Giles can give me away and I'll have a caterer and we can pick out floral patterns and all that stuff."  
  
"You keep saying that Buffy," Willow took the brush from Buffy's hands and began untangling some knots at the back. "Why?"  
  
She sighed a little, and turned to face her friend. "Because I can't think that this is it, that this will be my future." She paused, trying to control the little quiver her voice had acquired. "Spike's little wife who got married to him in the same place criminals are sentenced. Who didn't decide to tie the knot because she was in love, or because she wanted to spend the rest of her life with this man, or even because he'd accidentally knocked her up which still might be a better reason than this one. I am marrying Spike because the State said I had no choice. So I'm going along with it. And the only thing keeping me sane is the fact that maybe someday, I'll be able to walk down the aisle to a man that I can see myself building a life with. So that's why Wil. Because I can't see this as my life."  
  
"But he loves you Buffy. And he loves Dawn too. He could give you a nice life, if you let him. He's only trying to make the best of this whole thing."  
  
"Oh, right. Because I know how much he hates this idea. This is actually probably one of his twisted fantasies that he lulls himself to sleep with. Just because I kissed him."  
  
"You kissed him?!"  
  
"Only twice."  
  
"Twice?!"  
  
"Well, the first time was under Sweet's spell and the second wasn't on the lips or anything. It was like a relative kiss. And that was only to thank him for the dress. And you've seen the dress. It's a relative kiss worthy article of clothing."  
  
"That last part might be true, but Sweet's spell had no effect on people's actions Buffy, it only made people share their secrets."  
  
"It must have done something, because I never would have kissed him like that. The kiss, well the kiss was just. It was wow. But again, the spell. I'm sure the swell of music and all that must have made it seem better than it was the more I think about it."  
  
"So you've thought about it? After it happened I mean."  
  
"Somewhat."  
  
"I think you mean everyday, about sixty times a day."  
  
"No, of course not." She had started to blush, her cheeks and chest radiating a slight pink hue.  
  
"Of course not." Willow reached around and continued to brush Buffy's long hair. She hadn't gone to get it dyed since she came back, and the darker shade seemed to suit her. "I think deep down you care about him."  
  
"How can you say that?"  
  
"I didn't, your skin did." Buffy blushed again. "Denial is such a pretty shade on you."  
  
"I've told you I don't love him."  
  
"Not yet you don't. But there's still tomorrow, and the next day. You might surprise yourself."  
  
"Have you been talking to him? Is he the one putting these ideas in your head?"  
  
"No, these are all my thoughts. Thoughts of Willow. Hear me out ok? Love is like a car accident."  
  
"That's beautiful Willow, you should really put that in a greeting card." She got up from her chair. "Have you seen my veil anywhere?"  
  
"Stop avoiding the subject and let me finish. It's like a car accident because it will happen just when you stop paying attention. It'll come up and smash into you and there will be nothing you can do but let it happen. It may kill you, or you may just get up and walk away untouched. Or maybe it'll leave you a little shaken, and it will take you some time before you'll shift the gears back into drive, but you'll do it. And every time it happens, it's going to be different, but it's going to be when you least expect it."  
  
"Than I guess I'll just have to keep paying attention."  
  
"This is going to sound horrible, but I hope you fall asleep at the wheel."  
  
"Remember, Buffy holds no license. Buffy can't drive. No fender benders for Buffy."  
  
"Spike could run you over in the DeSoto."  
  
"Please, don't give me things to look forward to."  
  
"I give you a year."  
  
"For Spike to run me over? I'm not that bad of a person."  
  
"Not that. Your next crash. And if I'm right, we may be looking at a pileup." 


	7. Chapter 7

~ Part 7 ~  
  
"Stand still. I can't get this on straight if you keep wiggling."  
  
"I'm a grown man, I can tie my own tie. I've known how to do it for over a hundred years."  
  
"That may be true, but your fingers don't seem to agree."  
  
Spike glanced down at his hands, where the digits were fluttering ever so slightly. He sighed loudly. "Fine Tara, you can tie the bleeding tie."  
  
"Thank you." She swiftly wrapped the fabric around itself until it made a nice little knot at the top.  
  
"You're pretty good at this."  
  
"I did the debate team in high school."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"'Pretty Woman' joke. Calm down a little."  
  
"I am calm."  
  
"Your aura is all jumpy, you're not calm."  
  
"I'm sorry luv. Just never been a groom before."  
  
"Well me neither, but I don't think that you have anything to worry about. Don't think that Buffy's going to be disappointed with the honeymoon, or wake up tomorrow regretting the whole thing."  
  
"She already does."  
  
"You don't know that."  
  
"She wants nothing to do with me. She never has wanted anything to do with me."  
  
"Things can change. You've changed, from what I've heard anyway."  
  
"I have pet, but she's stubborn. Even if it happened, and she stopped regretting it, she'd never let on. She can be such a headstrong bitch sometimes."  
  
"But you love her don't you?"  
  
"Course I love her. She's my existence."  
  
"Love can break the strongest peoples' wills Spike. Give her time."  
  
"What choice do I have? I'd give her anything. Why do you think I let her treat me like she does? I don't enjoy it. In fact, it's torture, but if it helps her to feel better, I'll be the first person telling her to do it more often. I let her get away with hurting me, because in some ways it's better than her doing nothing to me."  
  
"I und und undererstand." Tara stuttered as she turned away, pausing as she realized that there was no reason and quickly reaching for the boutainere as if she had planned to all the time.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"It's nothing really. Just Will Willow and me. She did a spell and erased my memory so we wo would stop fighting. But I'm staying with her, be be because I can't let myself think she'll do it again."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Me too. I just hope it might be better this time."  
  
"It will be." The two stood in an awkward silence, neither very sure of what they were supposed to say. "Why don't you head on home, I can finish up the prep work. I'll meet all of you guys over at the courthouse."  
  
"Alright Spike." She gathered up the things she had come with. "And by the way, congratulations."  
  
He smiled at her. "Don't congratulate me, I haven't done anything yet."  
  
"But you will Spike, trust me you will." 


	8. Chapter 8

~ Part 8 ~  
  
"You're a big boy Spike. All you gotta do is stand up there, place the ring on her finger, a little peck on the lips and it's all over." He was speaking to the empty air as he laced up his shoes, no boots today, trying to eliminate the uneasiness that was hanging about. He knew what it was there for. "Well, that's what she's expecting anyway. This whole thing to end today and mean nothing."  
  
He tugged a little harder on the laces, beginning to hear the start of threads shredding. Loosening his grip on the strings, they fell limply to the concrete floor. "Always left being someone's nothing aren't you?"  
  
  
  
Her hair upswept and the pearls delicately resting on her collarbones she'd found herself growing misty as she saw her reflection in the mirror. This was her wedding, and it really had stopped mattering that it was Spike. Because she was happy, genuinely, for the first time in much too long. Because he had made her this way and she knew that something different had been inside her heart for awhile now.  
  
While she was standing alone here, she could admit to herself that she felt like she'd been rescued by her knight in shinning armor and had the gown to prove it. The princess in the fairytale who escaped from the dank tower into the waiting arms of her prince and would get to live the rest of her life in a castle happily ever after when the stallion had carried them both away towards the horizon.  
  
But the second anyone else joined her, the picture would change and she'd tell herself that she saw that the shield and chest piece were rusted and covered in clumps of mud and grass. That the prince was actually a sad substitution riding on a tired donkey and that the sordid tower had simply led her into an even darker tunnel. Her dress would get torn and covered in blood and soot and moisture and there would be no castles or rides into the sunset or joy when it all finally ended.  
  
Because the moment someone else was there, she'd have to view it all that way. Because she couldn't let them know that she had been lying all along. She wasn't sure she was ready to stop yet, but maybe he would help her with that.  
  
She smiled to herself as she turned once more in front of the reflective glass.  
  
Dawn came and took her sister's arm in her own. "This is really stupid, but I want to give you away. I know you wanted Giles or Mom," her voice caught slightly and she took a deep breath while she wiped at her nose with the back of her hand "but you're doing all this for me because I'm family so I want to do this for you. So please, if you don't mind."  
  
Buffy felt the tears pricking at her eyes again, knew her nose probably looked as pink as Dawn's. "I'd love to have you escort me." Her voice was thick and she felt a single bead of moisture slip down the curve of her nose. She didn't move to brush it away. Instead, she pulled the front of her veil over her face.  
  
"Are you ready?"  
  
"As I'll ever be." With that, the two girls began to walk in unison. One still young with so much life yet to be seen, heading towards the experiences that would shape her as a woman later on. The other not so much older in years, but aged none the less by her longer past, taking more steps towards her adulthood. The same stride, each as eager or perhaps reluctant to reach the destination. The bond of blood connected them, and when one of the hands began to shake, the other knew just the right pressure to apply.  
  
They reached the end of the walkway, the light click of heels still echoing quietly in the mostly empty courtroom. Dawn kissed her sister's cheek. "Thank you." She whispered, before taking her seat next to Tara.  
  
Buffy turned to face Spike, and he lifted the veil that was shielding her. She took him in, in his tuxedo with polished shoes and a black tie. She'd never seen him like this before, and yet it wasn't surprising or odd to her at all. They fit, like this, all dressed up with great places to go. Bride and Groom. Husband and Wife.  
  
His thumb slowly brushed over the lone tear and he smiled at her, but with depressed blue eyes. She took his hand in hers and smiled back, hoping the merriment was visible in her whole face, but it couldn't have been, as he broke her gaze and instead turned towards the judge. She felt the burning build as her eyelids furiously blinked.  
  
"We're gathered here today." She couldn't hear his voice anymore. She watched Spike the whole time, wanting to split open when she saw him struggle to control his voice and his emotions. There was no one else in the room but him and her, and it seemed as though he wasn't interested.  
  
Obediently she offered her hand to take her ring and placed his on his finger when she was instructed to. She repeated the parts she was supposed to repeat. She said she'd love, honor and cherish and knew that before a few days ago these would have been lies, but they weren't to her anymore. She knew he thought they were.  
  
"You may now kiss the bride." She waited, hoping for him to just melt into her, pushing her backwards so her spine arched over his arms. For him to unleash his passion for her, tongue probing between her lips so that she could show him that there was love when she kissed him back. When he tasted it on her mouth. When he'd pull away at last so she could breathe and it would be evident all over her face. But he only leaned in and brushed his cool lips against her own.  
  
This was her fault, and she knew it. All of those hateful words to his face and behind his back had finally had a consequence that she bothered to take notice of. She couldn't stop it anymore, and the rain trickled down her cheeks. Willow came and hugged her and Tara and Dawn, but Spike only stood there, and watched. He pulled a pack of Marlboros from his jacket pocket and motioned for the door.  
  
Watching him walking away she knew for the first time what it felt like to be him, the one always being left behind. But she couldn't let him know or her friends or her family. She was the Slayer, she was strong and this was her burden to bear. What was one more on the heap?  
  
The sobs continued, and she was cooed over and rubbed on the back like an unquiet baby, but it didn't help. She only wanted his arms, and he would never bring them now and there was no way she could ask for them. So she sniffled into the wrinkled tissue Dawn had handed her and hiccuped as she tried to catch her breath.  
  
  
  
Outside, he dragged slowly on a cigarette, wiping knuckles across his dampened face. "Knew this was all for nothing. She's never going to care about me and I've ruined her life. Nice way to treat the woman I love." He flicked the butt into the gutter and stood there alone, bleached hair almost luminescent in the streetlight. If she could have seen him now, she would have told him he was shining. Her armor in the night. 


	9. Chapter 9

~ Part 9 ~  
  
"I call the last piece."  
  
"No way. No one calls the last piece."  
  
"Willow, that's your second piece already, why don't you just let Dawnie have it?" Tara asked, picking up cream encrusted plates and silverware.  
  
"She can't. The last piece is for the bride and groom to eat on their one-year anniversary. It's good luck and means sweetness will stay in the marriage."  
  
"God Wil, just let her have the cake." There wasn't going to be any sweetness, or good luck and there was no way she was going to look at that sliver of dessert every time she went to get an ice cube so she could be reminded about how nothing ever works out for Buffy.  
  
She pushed herself back from the table, perhaps a little too violently, and Spike grabbed her wrist. His grip loosened a little when she turned to look at him. "I think Red has the right idea. We can use whatever luck we can get." His fingers drifted from her arm, but she was sure he felt her heart speed up right before they did.  
  
"Buffy, I don't want the cake, put it away. Please." She looked at her sister, and she saw it there, the guilt. "Dawnie this is not your fault" she wanted to scream. "There is no fault because this is something good." But she couldn't do it, and so she just focussed on the pleading face.  
  
"Alright, fine. We'll keep the cake." She picked up the dish and decided against just flinging it onto the abyss of freezer burned chicken and half-eaten tubs of Chocoholics Delight. Very gently she wrapped a layer of tinfoil from the roll around the slice and laid it down next to a container of concentrated orange juice. She turned to see the girls putting on their coats. "Where do you think you're all going?"  
  
"It's your wedding night, and you deserve a little privacy." Dawn said grabbing her purse from the counter. "So I'm staying with Tara and Willow tonight."  
  
"Oh no. You've got to be kidding me." Spike appeared to have the same expression on his face, the look of terror and disbelief. "You guys know we're not going to do anything like that."  
  
"Good-bye Buffy. Have fun Spike." The door slammed behind the two wiccas and Dawn.  
  
"Well what are we supposed to do now?" Buffy said, closing the freezer at last.  
  
"I'll leave you alone." He got up from the table and grabbed his duster from the back of the chair.  
  
"You don't have to." But he didn't hear her, as he'd already headed out into the night. "Nice Buffy. Real nice." She reopened the door and took out one of the ice cream tubs, sinking a nearby spoon into the half-carved block. 


	10. Chapter 10

~ Part 10 ~  
  
She was trying, she really was, but control was something she seemed to be lacking in lately. She was crying. Again. And whatever had been left of her sugary emotional fix hadn't much done the trick.  
  
It was stupid to think that some chocolate chunks and fudge swirls could help. They never really had before.  
  
She had the job. She had the husband. She had the interview all set up. Keeping Dawn didn't look as though it would be a problem.  
  
But keeping the house had become one.  
  
She looked at the pile of envelopes she had been hiding under the dishtowels. Second notice. Third notice. Final notice. Payment expected. The mortgage was way past due and the last installment she had tried to make bounced. Not a positive sign to the bank at all.  
  
She heard the click of the door, and quickly went to shove the mail once again beneath the checkered pieces of material. Sniffing, she slammed the drawer shut.  
  
"I'm just going to go. Get out of your hair." Spike turned quickly back in the direction he had come from. "Just needed these." He scooped the Desoto's keys off of the counter and stuffed them into his deep pockets. "We'll talk about the meeting.later"  
  
Grabbing a napkin from the crocheted little holder her mother had once bought at a church craft fair, Buffy wiped the mascara streaks from her eyelids. She really didn't know why she bothered to apply makeup anymore. "Don't. Just please don't"  
  
"Don't what Slayer? Huh? Make you cry some more, because I'm really not trying all too hard."  
  
"Are you that self-centered that you think that's the only thing I could be upset about?"  
  
"Hmmmm, let's think this through. Boy loves girl. Girl hates boy. Girl marries boy out of desperation. Girl realizes that she's stuck with boy. Boy gets tired of hurting girl. Boy gets damn tired of everything and so boy decides to call it a night."  
  
"Girl decides to stop him." She scooped her fingers down into the recesses of his leather coat, fingers latching upon metal rings. "I'd like you to stay. But it's up to you. If you want to leave, just tell me, and I'll drop these right now back to where I found them. If you don't, then I'll hold on to them for safe keeping."  
  
"Married for a couple of hours and she already has me whipped into submission."  
  
"Does that mean you'll stay?"  
  
"That means I'll stay." She removed her hand from his pocket, snaking the keys back on top of the counter. "So what was weepy Slayer for if I'm all self-centered and obviously much too arrogant?"  
  
"It was nothing."  
  
"I have an inkling that I was right and you don't want to admit defeat. You don't have to worry about hurting my feelings pet. I'm a big boy, I can take it."  
  
"Spike it wasn't you. It's not you. I just.I'd just rather not talk about it. Not now. Another time."  
  
"I'm going to hold you to that."  
  
"I wasn't expecting anything less." She yawned, quickly trying to cover her mouth with her hand. "Sorry. How mercilessly will you tease me if I said I couldn't sleep last night because of the jitters?"  
  
"I will never stop with the insults. Go to sleep Slayer. I'll take my place on the fold-out in the basement. Know where the clean sheets are and everything."  
  
"I think Dawn was hoping we'd at least use the same room. There's a cot set up. She used it for a pretty long time after Mom. She didn't like being alone. If you mind, that's ok. I understand."  
  
"The cot's perfect. But what are we going to do with it should our lovely friends at Social Services drop by?"  
  
"Say exactly what I just said to you."  
  
"That a couple of newlyweds welcome a frightened teenager into their bedroom? It sounds odd."  
  
"My sister is much more important to me than sex. Of the married or unmarried version. And oh my God, I did not just suggest that there would be sex between us."  
  
"I got the word loud and clear. Hope I'll be able to satisfy you as often as you like."  
  
"You're a pig Spike."  
  
"Her favorite saying, knew it was going to make an appearance sooner or later." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Why don't you head off to bed. I'll be up later."  
  
"Don't make too much noise."  
  
"Wouldn't dream of waking the woman who sleeps with a stake under her pillow."  
  
She glared at him walking within inches of his face. "How exactly do you know that?"  
  
"Didn't. Thanks for the heads up."  
  
"Pig."  
  
"Scardey Cat."  
  
"Demon."  
  
"Goody-two shoes."  
  
"WILL-iam" His eyes flickered a little bit.  
  
"Buffy."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Sweet dreams." He walked around her, giving a slight push to her back. "A cranky slayer is nobody's friend."  
  
"Goodnight Spike."  
  
"G'night pet." She walked out of the room, and as soon as he heard her footsteps quiet, he released the breath he'd been holding and flopped down in a chair. Her blond head bobbed back into the doorway, startling him a little more than it should have.  
  
"And if you even think of taking my underwear again, I know how many pairs there are." She stalked away again, leaving the chuckling vampire in her wake. 


	11. Chapter 11

~ Part 11 ~  
  
"What are you wearing tomorrow?" Buffy was flicking clothes about in her closet, pulling out different articles and tossing them near Spike on the bed.  
  
"Why does it matter?"  
  
"Well first off, I don't want us to match. Riley and I always kind of matched, and that's ick and looks like we're trying too hard."  
  
"You said it not me."  
  
"And secondly, you can't wear that."  
  
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"  
  
"It's all black."  
  
"I happen to like black."  
  
"I know. This is going to sound very Cordelia like, but please can we bring some color into the wardrobe? Look at this." She moved over to the half of the closet they'd delegated for his stuff. "Black, black, black. Dark black. Oooooh look! Your shoes are black. Who woulda thought."  
  
"What's wrong with black?"  
  
"Do you want to look like the Big Bad, or like the guy who helps my sister with her math homework?"  
  
"Math homework guy." He grumbled.  
  
"Exactly. I don't know what we're going to do about it now though. It's too late to go to the store."  
  
"Yea, I know pet. Which is why I bought this yesterday." He reached under the bed and pulled out a garment bag.  
  
"What's in there?"  
  
"An outfit."  
  
"Is it black, please say it's not black."  
  
"It's not black. Does it pass inspection?"  
  
"Well you have to try it on, I can't pass you without seeing you in it."  
  
"Can't it be a surprise? Do you have to ruin every bloody thing I try to do for you?" He jokingly said walking towards the bathroom.  
  
"What else have I ruined?"  
  
"Well nothing I can think of right now."  
  
"I'm glad to know it had such a huge impact."  
  
"Well I'm trying to suppress it. Only way I can make it through the day."  
  
"Now I think you're just wasting time."  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming." He opened the door. "How does this look?" He was wearing a pair of khakis with a blue shirt that brought out his eyes. He'd mussed his hair up, letting the curls fall around his forehead. "I even took the nail polish off. Well that was this morning, but it counts. So what do you think?"  
  
"Wow."  
  
"I've left her speechless. If all I needed to do was buy some clothes I would have done it sooner."  
  
"Stop it. You look."  
  
"It's nice to know you're not blind."  
  
"I like it. How's that? Very sophisticated, attractive, and math homework guy like."  
  
"Do I pass?"  
  
"You pass, well this part anyway. Go change."  
  
He headed back into the bathroom reemerging after only a few moments in his Spike trademarked outfit. "What do you mean this part?"  
  
"They still have the whole interview part of the interview."  
  
"Right, the entire reason we're going. Nearly forgot."  
  
"I think we really need to work on it a little more."  
  
"If you insist."  
  
"Ok, how'd we meet?"  
  
"I'm a relative of your ex-boyfriend. He was tutoring you in history, and I came to visit. We met at your school, Sunnydale High, on parent teacher night."  
  
"Alright, good. What's my middle name?"  
  
"Anne. What's mine?"  
  
"You don't have one. Just William Thompson."  
  
"Where'd I grow up?"  
  
"You lived with your mom in London."  
  
"Was it just me and Mum?"  
  
"You had a sister too, no brothers and your father had left home. Your mother worked as a nanny for a wealthy family."  
  
"Very complete."  
  
"How do you feel about kids?"  
  
"I'd like to have children later in life, but right now I'm good with just the Niblet. We'd have to adopt, or do sperm donation or something like that though."  
  
"I don't think they care about sperm donation."  
  
"Well I can't have kids being sterile and all. They might ask that."  
  
"You really think that's going to come up?"  
  
"Being sterile is a big thing in a marriage. What about you, do you want kids?"  
  
"I'd like kids, but not in that desperate way. No kids is something I could deal with. I thought about it a lot with Angel, not having children."  
  
"Would you rather adopt, or try to be impregnated artificially, if you decided you wanted the kids?"  
  
"I feel kind of bad for all those poor kids without parents out there, I know how it feels to be abandoned in a sense, so I think I'd adopt."  
  
"No sperm donors?"  
  
"You're really hooked on that issue aren't you?"  
  
"I'd tell you to get the sperm donor."  
  
"What if you get some sicko murderer rapist guy's sperm and like heart disease and obesity run in his genes? And there are so many kids in the world without parents already who need them. I could be that parent."  
  
"But you could be the parent of something that was a piece of you, that was part Buffy."  
  
"I have Dawn for that. She's my piece. Something doesn't have to be a part of you for you to love it. My friends are my family and we don't share blood, or lineage or any of that. But we're still a family. Including you. Anyway, what's my favorite drink?"  
  
"Iced tea, the peach kind. I've made it into the Scooby unit?"  
  
"Yes, you have. Or Mrs. William Thompson says so. What kind of lipstick do I use?"  
  
"It's a gloss thing, Berry Cherry or something like that. So you'd actually consider me part of your family."  
  
"We're married of course I would. Hair spray?"  
  
"No spray, but this blue gel stuff. Same thing I use."  
  
"What are you guys doing?" Dawn was standing in the doorway in her pink cat pajamas.  
  
"We're prepping for our interviews tomorrow."  
  
"Can I play? It looks all slumber party like."  
  
"Why do you say that Bit?" He looked around the room at the half empty bowl of popcorn, the soda cans, Buffy holding Mr. Gordo. "Alright, it really does look like something out of one of those pansy magazines you both keep in the bathroom. When do we do the makeovers?"  
  
"Hey shut up!" Buffy had already begun to braid Dawn's hair. "What are the names of those magazines by the way?"  
  
"Teen Bopper with Jason or something equally repulsive. How can you read them?"  
  
"They're not for reading, they're for looking at." Dawn said, sticking her tongue out at him. "So there."  
  
"Now you're in for it." He lunged at her with a pillow, but she ducked and Buffy got it in the face instead.  
  
"Oh you are so dead Vampire boy."  
  
"Stake me, I'd like to see you try."  
  
"I'd like to see too, but I'm going to bed."  
  
"You just want to get out cause you know I'll beat you both." He stood poised and ready to take on either one of them.  
  
"Actually, it's more of the school factor."  
  
"What time is it? Oh man, you, bed, now."  
  
"Goodnight. Wrestle quietly guys."  
  
"Goodnight Dawn." Buffy said, pointing at the door.  
  
Spike laughed at the two of them. "G'night Niblet."  
  
"I wasn't just talking to her when I said bed now."  
  
"Remember we have to wrestle quietly."  
  
"Would you stop? Goodnight Spike."  
  
"Night luv." Buffy flicked off the lights and climbed into her bed, wrapping the comforter over herself.  
  
Spike spoke from the cot. "Buffy?"  
  
"Yea?"  
  
"Liked the way you snuck attractive in before. Kind of subtle."  
  
"Oh, you picked up on that."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Have to work on my subtlety."  
  
"G'night then."  
  
"Goodnight." 


	12. Chapter 12

"You nervous?"  
  
"Not really." Buffy tapped her heeled foot against the chair leg.  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"Not a bit" Spike gnawed on the cap of his pen. "I need a bloody smoke."  
  
"Forget it." She'd taken away all of his cigarettes on the way over. "And whatever you do, please do not say bloody or sodding or any other colorful British language in front of this person."  
  
"Wouldn't dream of it." A woman walked out of the office and they both sat up a little straighter. Buffy reached over and pulled the pen from Spike's lips, sticking it into her purse.  
  
"Hello, you must be Buffy and William. My name is Claire Stevens and I'll be conducting a piece of the interviews today. Mr. Thompson, if you could come with me. Mrs. Thompson there are some magazines on the coffee table. Please help yourself to them. I'll be back out in a little while to take you in for your turn."  
  
Spike leaned over and gave Buffy a peck on the lips. "We're going to do fine. Bloody fantastic" he whispered into her ear.  
  
She smiled up at him. "Watch your mouth."  
  
"Mr. Thompson if you're ready."  
  
"Of course. I apologize. Just point the way."  
  
"Please, have a seat." Spike quickly plopped down into the chair Claire had pointed to, but remembering where he was, pulled himself up into a more appropriate upright position. "I'll be recording the interview if you consent, for observation later on."  
  
"Quite alright." She pushed down the first button in a row of them of the tape player on her desk.  
  
"So I hear that you and your wife tied the knot a couple of days ago. Congratulations."  
  
"Thank you, I'm a lucky man. She has the copy of the marriage license in her bag, if you need to see it."  
  
"We'll look into that a little later. I'm sorry that we have to go through this entire process, but we only have Dawn's best interests in mind."  
  
"As do I and her sister."  
  
"That's all that we want to look into. How long have you known Buffy for?"  
  
"We met back about four years ago, she was only in high school then."  
  
"So you're older than she is?"  
  
"Yes, I was already out of school by the time we met."  
  
"So you've known Dawn for this long as well, four years?"  
  
"I met her mother very soon after Buffy, but I didn't meet Dawn until two years ago. Buffy and I weren't on the best terms in the beginning you see."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"We fought about a lot of things, but we came around. Called a truce when her boyfriend took my girlfriend."  
  
"How long ago was that?"  
  
"Also around four years. It just kind of happened. We were both blaming ourselves and I can't really explain it. From the first time I saw her, I knew that she'd change my life. Never expected that it would have wound up to be this way."  
  
"What about the time period in between you making this truce with Buffy and meeting Dawn? Why was there such a gap?"  
  
"I was in Brazil. We decided it was best if we took some time to work things out. When I came back to stay, I met Niblet."  
  
"Niblet?"  
  
"I like pet names. I also call her Lil Bit sometimes."  
  
"Do you have any names for Buffy?"  
  
"None she'll probably tell you about, but I call her Slayer."  
  
"Alright, what side of the bed does Buffy sleep on?"  
  
"The right, she likes being close to the alarm clock."  
  
"Does she shower in the morning or at night?"  
  
"Usually both. Sometimes more. She likes baths more though, if she has the time."  
  
"What's her favorite food?"  
  
"She really likes Oreo cookies, but only with milk. Won't eat them otherwise."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"A flowering onion, no doubt."  
  
"Who does the cooking in the house?"  
  
"I've started to do most of it. Dawn used to cook some things, or Willow, a friend of Buffy's took care of it. She was staying at the house at the time. Now she lives with her girlfriend."  
  
"Buffy didn't or doesn't cook?"  
  
"She'd try, but she's awful at it. A lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and cans of Campbell's on the menu. So we decided I'd cook, and she'd handle laundry which is not my forte."  
  
"Does Dawn have any chores that she needs to take care of at home?"  
  
"She cleans her room, vacuums, regular teenage chores. Sometimes she needs more a push than others."  
  
"Who are some of Dawn's friends?"  
  
"She shares a lot of friends with her sister, Willow, Xander, Tara. Like having a lot of older siblings watching out for her. But there's this girl Janice her own age that she hangs around with. Does the sleepovers and movies and all that. There's a whole bunch of other girls that I've seen hanging around, but they're not close."  
  
"Does she have a boyfriend?"  
  
"Bloody well better not, excuse my language."  
  
"Why do you feel this way?"  
  
"She's like my own Lil Sis and I don't want to see some sodding bloke breaking her heart."  
  
"That's sweet. Do you have any siblings of your own, or other relatives?"  
  
"I had a sister when I was younger, who unfortunately passed away with my mum. My father had left home and I don't really actually remember him. There's a group of people though that was like my family for a long time. We've grown apart due to different desires in life."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear that."  
  
"What can you do? Buffy and Dawn are going to be my family from now on."  
  
"That's the way we hope it can be. One last thing, I would like you to tell me why you think that you and Buffy would be good guardians for Dawn, if you could."  
  
"I love Buffy, I've loved her for a long time. Probably before I even knew that I did. This past year I've really gotten to know Dawn, to love her too. I know how she likes her eggs cooked and that she is more scared of ET than any horror flick you can throw at her.  
  
"We bonded over stupid things, really. But we'd hang out and ask me to tell her stories, or play cards and we'd eat burned microwave popcorn and watch soap operas. She trusted me, and even though I loved Buffy, Dawn became more important to me. I worried more about her. I wanted to give her all the things that I wished someone had taken the time to give to me. All that advice, and insight and guidance that everyone seemed too busy to provide.  
  
"Not that Buffy doesn't try, I know that she does, but it's hard. For both of them. Buffy wasn't ready to be a mom, and she knows she's not nearly as good at it as Joyce was and she doesn't want to hurt Dawn anymore than she's already been hurt. And this is the time that Dawn needs a mom, even though they're all going to say at that age that they don't. But it's gotten better. And I think Buffy can be a good mom."  
  
"What about you William?"  
  
"I'm not really sure what dads are supposed to be, I know for sure what they're not though. I'll be there to listen to her and be proud of her and probably to tell stupid jokes, which I've noticed is a trait all fathers must have. But really, the reason I think we'd be good for Dawn. We love her, we know her, and we want her to be happy. And if you give us a chance, we can do that."  
  
"Well thank you very much for your time. If you don't mind, I'll bring Buffy in now, and after I speak to her, we can have a meeting together."  
  
"That sounds fine. Thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us."  
  
"Just doing my job."  
  
"Hello Buffy, I just had a very interesting talk with your husband William, congratulations on the wedding."  
  
"Thank you very much. Please tell me Spike didn't say anything too.racy."  
  
"Spike?"  
  
"Oh, an old nickname, there's really no one that calls him William. He usually doesn't even introduce himself as William, and I'm sure this isn't sounding too good in our favor."  
  
"No, it's quite alright Mrs. Thompson, just relax. He told me all about how nicknames are important to him."  
  
"Oh yes, everyone has their little pseudonyms, sometimes more than one."  
  
"For example?"  
  
"He calls Dawn Niblet or Lil Bit. My friend Xander is the whelp, Willow's Red, Tara's Glenda, Angel's Peaches and I'm Slayer or Goldilocks. It's more personal in a way, once you get used to it."  
  
"Speaking of personal, we're going to get into that a little bit now, where do you sleep in the bed?"  
  
"By the alarm clock, Spike's not a morning person at all, so it's usually me getting up first, but he makes the breakfast. And pretty much everything else."  
  
"So you don't cook?"  
  
"Fire extinguishers should be on hand if I'm the person handling the stove. So even though he doesn't really eat many things, he's really good at making lots of different dishes."  
  
"Is he a picky eater?"  
  
"He just has an unusual diet that he likes to stick to. Flowering onions, Wheatabix, British beer. Although he's stopped drinking since he moved into the house. Not that he was a heavy drinker before, or that he ever drank around Dawn."  
  
"Mrs. Thompson, it's ok if he drinks in moderation. He's an adult and legally can partake in alcohol. It won't have a part in the case. Don't worry about that."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Who takes care of the other things in the house? You? Dawn?"  
  
"We try to split it up as equally as we can. I'll wash clothes and Dawn will vacuums while he makes dinner and things like that."  
  
"What would you say is Dawn's favorite thing to do on a Saturday night?"  
  
"Depends on her mood, who's around. She's been Bronzing it with her friend Janice and some other kids from school, but there are other times that she just wants to sit at home and watch video rentals. Spike bought a Playstation a few weeks ago, and sometimes they play that for what seems like hours."  
  
"So they get along?"  
  
"Dawn loves Spike, I think a lot of the time she cares more about him than me. She talks to him about a lot of things. We never really talked not even when we were little. The age gap between us isn't too large, but it's still kind of hard. When I was in high school, she was still in elementary, and there weren't many things we had in common. It's easier now that it was."  
  
"Did your mother ever meet Spike?"  
  
"Yes, she did. Not long after I did in fact. She always had a soft spot for him. I think she saw that he still needed a mom sometimes. She gave him hot chocolate after his girlfriend broke up with him and wasn't too weird to see him in the kitchen talking to her. I think she probably liked him better than all the other guys I went out with, which is funny, because I didn't really like him at all while she was still alive. More of a toleration than anything else. But, people change."  
  
"Last question, why do you think that you'd be a good guardian for Dawn?"  
  
"I love her. Simple as that. My mom used to say that there's no instruction book when you become a parent, it's just thrust upon you and you have to figure it out for yourself. And so we're doing that. Learning the boundaries and things like that.  
  
"I know what it's like to be a teenager and confused and not know where you belong. I know it's easier if there are people around to help you with that, especially if you already trust them."  
  
"Thank you very much Buffy. How about we bring your husband in?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Well you both did a very nice job with the interview process. There are still more steps that we need to take care of. We'd like to have Dawn come in, so that we can talk to her about her feelings on this and we'd like to set-up some scheduled visits to come and see you at home. There will also be unprepared visits thrown in at various times between appointments."  
  
"So you'll just be showing up at random?" Spike asked.  
  
"In a word, yes. We want to make sure that the house is in good working order on a regular basis and that it's not just for appearances sake."  
  
"We understand. I don't think you'll find any problems." Buffy was happy to hear that they had done well and wanted to get out of there before things started to go downhill. "Can we make the appointments with the secretary?"  
  
"Of course. I understand that I'm probably keeping you away from other things. Have a nice night."  
  
"Thank you, you too." Spike shook her hand, and Buffy followed. He put his arm around Buffy's waist, and went to leave the office. "Well I think that went much better than we expected."  
  
"Let's just hope it did." 


	13. Chapter 13

~ Part 13 ~  
  
"So that's it? They just want to do a few of these visits and speak to me and we're done with them?" Dawn was practically squealing when vampire and slayer returned home from their interview. "No more annoying people pushing themselves into our business?"  
  
"I guess you're right Dawn, but that's more than a little it. We have to make a good impression all of these times, and even then they can still change their mind at the end of it, regardless of how good we think we did." Buffy was walking around the room, her pumps in her hands, scooping up stray dishes and ordering the magazines on the coffee table.  
  
"Stop trying to scare her, we're going to do fine. Dawn, don't listen to her. And Buffy, the house is supposed to look lived in. Not like we have a 24 hour maid service in place." He plopped down on the couch, putting his boots up on the pile she'd just created.  
  
"Well we don't have to live here like pigs." She pushed his feet onto the floor, along with most of the issues of People and the ever-popular Teen Bopper with Jason that had somehow made it from their little wicker basket next to the sink upstairs. "That's it, both of you. Cleaning."  
  
"Buffy, it's like 10:30. At night." Dawn was talking to her and Buffy was giving her that I'm utterly confused face. "On a Thursday. Hello, school tomorrow?"  
  
"Then why are you not in bed yet? Go! Spike, you on the other hand as a creature of the night, are not off the hook in any way."  
  
Dawn stuck her tongue out at him. "Nah nah na nah nah. I don't have to clean."  
  
"But now you can't go talking to Janice for an hour like you had originally planned. Nah nah na nah nah right back at ya."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"No bad language Bit, off to bed with you. Or she'll shove a dustbuster into your hands."  
  
"Shut up is not bad language Mr. Sodding Bloody Hell."  
  
"Well you're 15 and I'm 128, so I can say whatever."  
  
"Stop! Dawn I want you in bed, no more arguing. No more language like that either. Spike, if you don't get up off your ass and help me, the dustbuster is only going to be to get your remains out of the carpet. Do we understand each other?"  
  
"Yes." They both grumbled at the same time and Dawn giggled until Buffy glared at her. "I'm going."  
  
"Buff, they're not going to be coming tonight. Let's go to sleep, we'll start on this tomorrow, it'll give me something to do."  
  
"I'm too wound up."  
  
"Do you want to go patrol, I'll stay here with Niblet. Get some of this pent up anxiety out of your system."  
  
"I did a sweep before we left, not much going on tonight. You know when you know you should really be sleeping, cause you're beat, but that nagging voice in your head keeps telling you you're not tired?"  
  
"Yea. And you know what helps? A snack. Come on, I'll make you something." She went to go pick up the periodicals that by now were scattered all around the floor. "And leave those where they are. I told you, tomorrow."  
  
"Alright, fine. But only because you're promising me sugary goodness."  
  
"So what'll it be. I think the only things we have that could even be considered sugary goodness are Trix cereal or chocolate milk." He popped a few of the colored pebbles into his mouth. "Scratch the Trix, that's not goodness in any way."  
  
"I don't like Trix. I don't think Dawn does either. I actually have no idea why we have that in our house."  
  
"I don't get those commercials, why don't the kids share with the rabbit, especially if it tastes like this?"  
  
"Yea, he never gets any does he? He's like a cereal nun." She pulled two glasses from the cabinet while he rummaged around in the fridge.  
  
"Can we make it strawberry milk?"  
  
"Where did all of this weird food come from?"  
  
"Don't ask me, I just moved in. Wait, found the Quik. Don't worry." He opened the cap and drizzled some directly into his mouth.  
  
"That really is rather disgusting."  
  
"You know you were going to do it if I hadn't done it first."  
  
"That's probably true, but it's still gross." She took the bottle from him and wiped the cap, licking the chocolate off of her finger before squeezing some on the bottom of each glass.  
  
"This strawberry gunk kind of looks like blood. I'm almost tempted to try some."  
  
"That is more than rather disgusting. And I have a feeling that Dawn was planning on trying some of it on top of the cereal."  
  
"Thank you for ruining my appetite for the next three months. Even a sight of your ex didn't mess my stomach up that badly."  
  
"Oh stop."  
  
"No fight on it? Bet you felt the same way. Was that why you were getting so gaunt looking there for awhile Slayer?"  
  
"I was never gaunt looking thank you, and no." She added the milk, or tried to, as he bumped into her, and a good amount of the pint went sloshing to the floor.  
  
"Sorry bout that. I got it." He reached into the drawer of towels before she could stop him.  
  
"Spike, no, it's ok. I'll." But the envelopes came slipping out along with the two or three gingham dishrags.  
  
"What are these?" He scooped down to pick them up. "Bloody hell Buff, how long have you been getting these?"  
  
"They're nothing, don't worry about it."  
  
"I bloody well will worry about it. They're going to foreclose on the house?"  
  
"Keep your voice down, and yes, they are. I was just waiting for when to tell Dawn alright? I didn't really want to think about it right now. One obstacle at a time."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me, we could have worked something out."  
  
"What could you have done? I wasn't going to take your money."  
  
"Have you thought about this at all? Or were you too proud to do that too?"  
  
"I've been looking into apartments, two bedrooms. There are some nice ones in Xander's building. A few right by her school. I don't really know if I want to stay here anymore Spike. This isn't our childhood home, we left that six years ago, and the memories I have here are not all for the best. This is where Dawn slit her wrists, set fire to her diaries. It was this house I was forbidden to return to after, well after Angel. The house I've moved out of and back into and didn't really care one way or another. This was where my mother died Spike. And maybe we need a new place, to start over. That will be our place without all of these extra things in the way. Not having to think this was where Mom used to leave her coffee mug or Giles always liked that chair and Riley left his coat next to that plant and Angel used to climb in that window. I want new memories."  
  
"What if Dawn doesn't?"  
  
"It's not really a choice."  
  
"Because you won't let it be?"  
  
"I'm never going to have the money to handle the expenses of a house. Especially not with being there for Dawn and the fact that I've missed so many payments."  
  
"It's safe to her here."  
  
"It's safe because we're here. And we're going with her. She's going to stay in the same school she's in now and the only thing different will be that it'll be a smaller scale."  
  
"What are you going to do with all your stuff, you can't fit a whole house into a flat."  
  
"I figured we'd take what we need, what'll fit and what's important for us to have. Hopefully no sacrifices."  
  
"There are going to be sacrifices."  
  
"Then I'll make them. I'll sleep on the goddamn dining room table if she would rather we keep that than my bed. I will fill every inch of that place with these material goods we've amassed if that will make it easier for her. I'm doing this for her. I could have been back in a dorm, going to classes, no obligations, not to her, not the state and certainly not to you..."  
  
"I think I've heard enough. You've obviously made up your mind. I'm going to bed, not that hungry anymore."  
  
"Please Spike, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like it came out."  
  
"How did you mean it then?"  
  
"I'm obligated to do things for you because I can't lose you. This one thing is not because of Dawn. You were the best friend I had when I came back, when I was all messed up. And I guess I'm still messed up in a lot of ways. And you're still here. You haven't left me when things got tough; in fact you took on more of the burden, more than your share. That's why I couldn't bring this to you, couldn't ask you to do another thing for me. You've already promised to protect Dawn for the rest of time, to marry me and to love, honor and cherish. It's too much as it is, another and I'd never be able to repay."  
  
"You don't have to repay for any of this. I gave it to you, willingly. Never expected anything back in return."  
  
"Because you're too used to me not giving anything. I'm sorry. I know that I'm a horrible person and that it's wrong of me to keep asking."  
  
"But I like it when you ask, makes me feel useful. I love you. I love your sis. I loved your mum. I don't want to see you suffer in any way, especially if there was something I could have done to prevent it. Why I wish it was me who died up on that tower."  
  
"Oh Spike. It's ok. I'm back, and this is going to be the time that I do things right. So I'm going to tell you now, like I should have before, that there's a very good chance that you could mean something to me. That I could love you the way you want me to. Not as a friend, which I think I already might, but as a lover. So there's a slice, I think you deserve that more than the barest smidgen."  
  
He stood there, completely awe struck, not really sure if he was hearing her correctly. "You mean that?"  
  
"Yes, I mean that. And I'll tell Dawn tomorrow about the house, if you want me to."  
  
"Whenever you're ready. Just hope it's before she comes home from school and the moving van is out front."  
  
"Yes, it will be. Can we forget the snack, I'm ready to sleep without it."  
  
"Yea, me too. I'll clean this up, why don't you head up without me. I'll be there soon."  
  
"Goodnight. And thank you again, for everything."  
  
"I'm not giving you anything more than you deserve." She kissed him lightly on the lips, a quick brush.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow morning. And remember, the magazines are yours."  
  
"I know. Make sure to organize the issues into separate piles for fall fashions and summer music previews. Know you won't accept them any other way."  
  
"That's right." She headed upstairs and tried to smother her laughter when she heard a tiny war whoop from the kitchen. 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer can be found on previous parts. DDR is "Dance Dance Revolution". A video game from either Korea, Japan or China. I'm not really sure. I don't have permission for the game. If you've never heard of it, check it out, awesome.  
  
~Part 14~  
  
"Dawn, Spike and I wanted to talk to you about something."  
  
"You're getting a divorce aren't you? Or, oh! Oh! Wait! Are you pregnant? I didn't think that vampires could make babies."  
  
"Well they can't and that's why I haven't." Buffy cleared her throat. "There's also the fact that I haven't been sleeping with Big Sis, so that might be why."  
  
"Right. And no Dawn, no divorce. This is about the house."  
  
"Look, I'm sorry that it was such a mess when you came home yesterday."  
  
"I know, but that's not it either. We're going to have to move. I'm sorry Dawn, but Spike and I can't afford to keep the house."  
  
"How can Spike afford anything, he doesn't even have a job."  
  
"That's what you think Niblet." He was a little more offended by the statement than he probably should have been. "Been working at Willy's. Bouncer if you will. Keep the demons as civil as possible."  
  
"Dawnie, I saw a really nice apartment, two bedrooms, big living room. It's right near your school. I spoke to the landlady today and she said with this month's rent, and next's, we can move in whenever we want."  
  
"So we're not moving away away?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"How long have you know this wasn't going to work out for?"  
  
"I'm as surprised as you, only just found out last night."  
  
"I've known for about a month after I came back. There was no way I was going to bring in as much money as mom did working at the gallery, especially not with the medical bills we still had and all the other sources of debt that kept growing."  
  
"And you didn't tell me?"  
  
"I didn't want to, until I was absolutely sure. There was no reason that you needed to worry about it, it was my problem."  
  
"It didn't need to be Buffy. Maybe we could have thought of something, worked a plan out. But you know now, for certain that we have to go?"  
  
"Unless I can come up with a couple thousand dollars, yes. I really wish I could have done better, but are you ok with this? I could always try to get Dad, or Giles. I'll do my best if this isn't what you want. You have to tell me."  
  
She shrugged. "Is the place hooked up for cable?"  
  
"That's a very good question Bit, didn't even consider it. Is it?"  
  
"Yes, and there's a phone jack in both bedrooms."  
  
"Alright then, when do we move in?"  
  
"As soon as I can get Spike to move all the furniture into a van."  
  
"You're out of your bleeding mind if you think I'm packing this whole house."  
  
"We'll help Spike, I promise. Well probably Buffy more than me, being a superhero and all. I can write on the boxes. Can I get one of those sniffy markers?"  
  
"Before we get into all this, there's just one more thing I want to say. This is a surprise for both of you."  
  
"You bought us DDR? For the Playstation?" Dawn looked very hopeful, and Buffy couldn't help but notice the slightly excited look Spike's eyes had taken on when he heard what she'd said.  
  
"No DDR, I'm sorry. But, I went for an interview today, at an office, and they hired me as a secretary. I start Monday."  
  
"You're joking! Ah! Buffy congratulations!" Dawn leaped from the couch, almost tripping over the coffee table into her sister's lap, wrapping her arms around her. "Now you'll bring in enough money to buy me DDR."  
  
"That's fantastic luv. I think we should celebrate."  
  
"After patrol. I'll be back in about an hour. Just wanted to get this out of the way first. Love ya." She kissed Dawn on the cheek and then went over to do the same for Spike. "Don't start without me." She grabbed her coat and headed out the front door. "And Dawn, if you ask me again for that game, you're never going to get it."  
  
"Did I just hear and see what I think I did?"  
  
"What's that Bit? Not to ask her for that disc. I told you, ask me, we chose me as the parent who spoils."  
  
"Not that. The kiss, and the love ya. That's why you yelled last night isn't it. She told you she loved you."  
  
"No, she didn't. Said maybe she could. Enough of an accomplishment in my book."  
  
"Today is like the best day ever."  
  
"Did you do your homework?"  
  
"And now you've ruined it."  
  
"I take that as a no."  
  
"No, I didn't finish it."  
  
"Tell you what, come into the kitchen and I'll help. I want to make your sis something special to eat."  
  
"What do you have in mind?"  
  
"Long as it ain't Trix, I don't really care." 


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer in previous parts. Thanks so much to everyone who left reviews!  
  
~Part 15~  
  
"Who taught you how to cook anyway? Cause if you don't eat, I don't really see what the purpose is." She was trying to dip her fingers into the melted chocolate on the counter, but he kept slapping her hand away.  
  
"Stop that. You can't eat it before it sets. It'll get all over you. And, I do eat, sometimes. It's just something to do. You can only spend so many decades listening to Dru before you realize you have to have some other hobbies."  
  
"So you chose cooking?"  
  
"Well, I can do other stuff too. You know all this already. Remember all of those late night bonding sessions? Do your algebra."  
  
"But it doesn't make any sense. And when am I going to use this stuff anyway?"  
  
"I have no idea but your school say you will, so get to it." He pulled out one of those little wicker baskets from the refrigerator bursting with strawberries and shuffled around for something else. "Do you know if we have any bananas, maybe some pretzels?"  
  
"Think we have pretzels and if we had bananas I wouldn't tell you anyway."  
  
"And why is that?"  
  
"Bananas are a little to phallic for me to watch you feed my sister. Especially if you're giving her champagne too." She once again tried to get her hands on the goods, but he was too quick for her.  
  
"You have a serious one track mind. I thought it was only teenage boys that thought about sex all the time."  
  
"Look at the people I hang with. We got my sister who if I recall correctly set free a poltergeist with her love making, Anya who throws the word orgasm into every other sentence and Willow and Tara can't really lie at all about what they're doing. Plus Janice and I."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
".like to read Cosmo." She rolled her eyes at him. "No, we're not making pornos or stripping or having sex."  
  
"Damn well better not be."  
  
"Come on, would I do that? I haven't even come up with a good stage name yet."  
  
"Do your algebra and I'll pretend I didn't hear that."  
  
"What do you think of Bubbles?"  
  
"That's a Powerpuff Girl. Obviously too young. Do the math." He began dipping various pieces of fruit into the liquid chocolate, some then into sprinkles as well, watching her pout. "Oh here. Have your chocolate." He pushed one of the berries into her mouth, grinning with satisfaction as most of the fudge dripped over her chin. "Told you it needed to set." He started to laugh at her scowling and speckled face.  
  
"I hate you sometimes."  
  
"I feel the same way Dawn." Buffy replied from where she was leaning on the doorframe. "Please tell me you didn't make something?"  
  
"If we said yes would that be a bad thing?" Dawn pinched another strawberry between her digits, slipping the goopy fruit into her mouth.  
  
"I'm just not feeling so great right now, kind of just want to curl up in bed."  
  
"You do look kind of flushed pet." Spike walked over and pressed his lips to her forehead. "A little warm."  
  
"I'm always a little warm to you. I'll be ok. Thank you so much for doing this, even though I'm not going to get to appreciate it first hand. It was really sweet." He kissed the top of her head again and she headed upstairs.  
  
"Dawn you going to finish that stuff?"  
  
She'd already gotten a spoon out of the drawer and was scraping at the pot. "Think I can handle it."  
  
"Don't make yourself sick. I'm going upstairs with your sis."  
  
"Alright, see you tomorrow."  
  
"Put the fruit away when you're done, and rinse the pot."  
  
"Yes evil stepfather. Right out of Cinderella. Next I'll be sleeping next to the fireplace."  
  
"Only if you're lucky." 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer on previous parts.  
  
~ Part 16~  
  
It was true that he was a creature of darkness, that he really didn't usually have a desire to climb into bed when the sun set, or really have a need to, but tonight he just wanted to sleep. And for some reason the light in the hallway had been on for a really long time.  
  
He rolled over, facing away from the window, and noticed that the rumpled bed next to him was empty, the sheets cold. So it was Buffy then.  
  
Leaving his cot, happy that his body didn't recognize changes in temperature, he moved into the corridor. The bathroom door was closed, a little sliver of light slipping between the crack at the floor. "Pet, you alright?" He whispered, lightly rapping on the door.  
  
"Please Spike, just go away." Her voice had a moaning quality to it, so he knocked again.  
  
"What's wrong, Buffy?"  
  
"Nothing. Leave me alone. Please."  
  
"I'm coming in." He turned the knob and saw her curled up on the floor. Definite fetal position. "Doesn't much look like nothing."  
  
"I'll be ok. I just kind of want to lay here. Forever."  
  
"Tell me what it is. I'll try to make it better."  
  
"I think I'm going to be sick again." And she was right, as she dragged herself over to the porcelain bowl. He pulled her hair back out of her face and knelt down besides her, stroking her back. It didn't last long, but she hovered over the water, beginning to cry. "I told you not to come in. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."  
  
"What are you apologizing for?"  
  
"You didn't need to see this."  
  
"Trust me luv, I've seen a lot worse in my day."  
  
"You can go back to sleep, if you want. I'll try to be quiet."  
  
"Come here pet." He gently placed her into his lap, cradling her, and kissed the top of her head. "I think you still have that fever." She shivered a little in response, her teeth meeting as she sucked in a breath.  
  
"My dad used to do this for me. Stay up with me when I was sick. Mom could never quite deal so well with it, so he would. But right after he left, I had food poisoning from some bad sushi, she stayed with me, all night. She'd never done that before and I kept telling her to go away that I was a big girl and that she didn't have to do this, but she stayed. I think she knew I didn't want her to." She was really crying now, and he wiped at her face. "Thank you for not leaving me."  
  
"Shhhh. I'm not going anywhere alright. I'll stay as long as you need me. Probably longer than you do."  
  
"You'll hold me? You promise."  
  
"I promise."  
  
"Why are you so nice to me when all I do is treat you like crap?"  
  
"Well, that would have been a very good question a few days ago, but you haven't recently. We've been getting along. We're trying."  
  
"I guess that you love me doesn't hurt." He didn't answer her, just held her a little tighter and wrapped a bath towel around her bare legs.  
  
They sat there, and he put a washcloth over her forehead, carrying her to bed when she finally fell asleep. He climbed in besides her, pushing the cot aside with his feet. "No, I guess it doesn't hurt at all." 


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer in Part 1 ~Part 17~  
  
"Where's Buffy?" Dawn walked in, already fully dressed, which was odd for a Saturday morning, the most important word in that being morning, to find Spike making some pancakes at the stove. "And would it kill you to wear a shirt?"  
  
"She's still sleeping, she had kind of a rough night last night, and not all of us feel the need to prep for breakfast. I think the sweatpants your sister made me buy work quite fine by themselves." He took a sip from a mug next to the batter. Hey, he was entitled to some breakfast too.  
  
"She alright?" Dawn grabbed one of the ones that were already done, flipping it back and forth between her palms. "Ooh, hot!" She blew on it a little, before taking a bite.  
  
"Yea, I think so, little bug's all. Why are you all in a rush this morning?"  
  
"Janice and I are going to the mall, there's supposed to be a band signing CDs at the music store."  
  
"And when were you planning on filling the rest of us in on this?"  
  
"I guess right now."  
  
"Alright, who's driving, what mall, what store in the mall, what band is this, when will you be back, and when did I turn into the annoying inquisitive parent?"  
  
"Janice's mom, the one right by IKEA, CD World, 724, before dinner and I'd say right after you moved in with my sister."  
  
"Alright, call if your plans change. You need cash?"  
  
"If you're offering, of course," He glared at her a little. "but honestly, not so much." The front doorbell rang, and Dawn went running in completely the opposite direction. "Ah! They're early, where are my shoes?"  
  
"Look by the sofa, I think you took them off there last night. How you getting home? You need a pickup?"  
  
"Janice's mom will drive us home too, I checked." The bell rang again. "Can you get the door?"  
  
"Already on it." He flung it open and answered "Hey and you're not Janice." Instead of the teenager in her boyfriend's lettermen's jacket that she just thought was so dreamy he was face-to-face with a middle-aged woman in business attire.  
  
"No, sorry. I'm Melissa Redgrave from Social Services." He instantly wished he'd listened to Dawn and put on that T-shirt.  
  
"So this is one of those surprise visits then?"  
  
"You'd be right, may I come in?"  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry of course, please." He stepped out of her way, and headed straight for the laundry basket at the bottom of the steps, slipping on one of his black T's.  
  
"Spike, can you tell her to wait for just a couple more seconds, now my purse is MIA."  
  
"Don't worry Bit, you got some time, it's not Janice yet, and you left your bag on the counter when you came downstairs. Why don't you sit next to it and have some of your breakfast on a dish like a civilized person, which would also mean chewing it." He smiled at the woman, whispering more quietly to her "She's in a little hurry this morning."  
  
Dawn ran into the foyer. "Yea well."  
  
"And Dawn, I'd like to introduce you to Ms. Redgrave, she's one of the social workers on our case."  
  
"Hi Dawn."  
  
"Hello Ms. Redgrave. I think I'll go have that breakfast now, I have to get my vitamins, listen to my elders, and well he went through all the trouble." She bolted out of the room as quickly as she had entered it, and he snickered.  
  
"I don't suppose you'd be interested in some pancakes, but there's plenty if you are. Coffee, tea, anything you'd like?"  
  
"No, I'm fine thank you. If it would be alright, I'd just like to take a look around, and maybe talk to you and Buffy for a little while. Is she home?"  
  
"She's here, but not doing that great. She was up most of the night, a little under the weather."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."  
  
"She'll be fine soon, she bounces back pretty fast." He heard the telephone ringing from the kitchen. "Please have a look around. If you'd excuse me." He was putting on his best manners, and he'd forgotten how difficult it was to keep up with. Dawn had already answered when he got there and was scribbling a barely legible note down onto a pad of paper.  
  
"Mmhmm, got it. Yep, I'll let her know. She'll call you back, I promise. You're good? Alright, I love you too, I'll talk to you soon."  
  
"Who was that?"  
  
"Giles, he wants Buffy to call him."  
  
"Anything wrong?"  
  
"No, I just think Saturday's going to be his check-in with Sunnydale day."  
  
"Does he know, about, about me and Buffy?"  
  
"I don't think so, and by the way, please tell me you didn't open the door all ab flashing." He reached over, dumping the rest of his mug's contents down the drain and rinsing it out. He didn't think pig's blood sitting right next to a plate of flapjacks was considered normal.  
  
"I did."  
  
"You didn't?" A horn honked outside. "Alright, that's them, I'm sure. I'll be back later."  
  
"And you'll remember to do what?"  
  
She ran towards the hallway, picking her bag up off the counter and shoving one more bite of pancake into her mouth. "I know, I know, I'll call. Bye Spike!" She slammed the door loudly as she left.  
  
Spike walked out into the living room again. "I apologize, it's not usually this chaotic around here. Well actually let me rephrase that. It's not usually this chaotic around here this early in the morning."  
  
"It's fine Mr. Thompson, we're expecting things to function in an unprofessional way, that's why we come unexpectedly."  
  
"I also figured it had to do with people hiding things, we wouldn't want that." He was really happy the phone had rung. "Was there anything you wanted to ask, or that I'm supposed to show you? I'm not really sure how these things are supposed to work."  
  
"Well, it appears as though the house is in order, I'd like to see the rest of it before I go, but we can do the interview portion now if you'd like."  
  
"That's fine. What would you like to know?"  
  
"At the meeting at the office, Buffy was in a temporary position and you were unemployed. What are the conditions of employment at this time?"  
  
"Buffy got a job as a secretary in an office, and I've been working as a bouncer down at Willy's, which is a bar. We're trying to work it out so that Buffy can take some courses for college credit, or that I can get a good enough paying job so that she can go back to being a regular student, but one thing at a time."  
  
"And the mortgage company let us know that payments have lapsed, what is being done about that?"  
  
"We're actually going to try to sell the house, or have the bank repossess it, I'm not exactly clear on how that's being handled yet, but there's an apartment that we're supposed to go and look at. It's still in Dawn's school district, and it would just be a lot less maintenance."  
  
"Those were the two pressing questions, if I have anymore, I'll contact you. If I can just see upstairs, I'll be getting out of your hair."  
  
"Sure, I'll give you the tour." He headed up the staircase, and she followed. "We've got Dawn's room over here, which I hope is no longer a toxic waste zone." He opened the door and leaned in. "I think it's safe. Her sister must've finally gotten through with the cleanliness being good message." She walked around, writing some things down on her clipboard and then heading out of the room.  
  
"I know there are three bedrooms in the house, is one of them empty now?"  
  
"Well, the room was Joyce's before, and until we got married, two of Buffy's friends were using it. All of the furniture is still in there, and if we were staying, I figure we'd be moving out of Buffy's room and into there."  
  
"So you too use Buffy's old bedroom?"  
  
"Yes, she's got a queen-size in there, and we also have a cot set-up. Sometimes Dawn has some trouble sleeping and it's just easier if someone's in the room with her."  
  
"Spike? Is that you?" So she was up then.  
  
"Yea luv, it's me. Did we wake you up?"  
  
"Not so much as the doorbell, phone and horn did."  
  
"I'm sorry." He walked into the bedroom and kissed her forehead. "I don't think you have that fever anymore. So that's good. How are you feeling?"  
  
"I've been better. Who are you talking to out there?"  
  
"Melissa Redgrave, one of our case workers."  
  
"Oh my God, she's here? Why didn't you come and get me? Where's Dawn, and please tell me she cleaned her room."  
  
"You're sick, and it's under control. Dawn went to the mall with Janice."  
  
"Is the room clean?"  
  
"Yes, the room is clean. Do you want anything, some crackers or soup?"  
  
"Maybe some crackers. And apologize for me."  
  
"I already did, and she said none was necessary. Giles called while you were sleeping, Dawn took the message."  
  
"I have to call him."  
  
"No, you have to rest. I'm taking care of things, don't worry. It was just a call to check-in."  
  
"So everything's fine? You promise?"  
  
"Well I did welcome the woman half-dressed."  
  
"So than things are better than fine."  
  
He kissed her head again. "I'm going to let her out, and then I'll bring something up for you."  
  
"Thank you, for everything."  
  
"It's no problem."  
  
"Remember, to apologize."  
  
"I will."  
  
He exited, quietly closing the door behind him. "She asked me to apologize again."  
  
"You can tell her that it's not a problem. If you have nothing else to share, I'll be on my way. I'm sorry we have to just barge in like this. I'll have the office call on Monday to set-up a few scheduled appointments and an interview for Dawn. I'll let you get back to your wife, I can let myself out."  
  
"Thank you for coming."  
  
"We'll be in touch soon."  
  
"I'm sure you will. Good-bye."  
  
"Have a nice day Mr. Thompson." 


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimers and information in Part 1. Thank you so much to everyone who sent feedback! If you missed any parts, or would like to send more feedback, please contact me off list, thanks!  
  
~Part 18~  
  
"It's nice to see someone's feeling better." Spike was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through the newspaper.  
  
"Well it's certainly nice to feel better, and just in time to go to work tomorrow too. Ooh comics." She pulled the funnies out from under a pile advertisements, scattering the ads around onto the floor.  
  
"Let's try to keep this place in some sort of order, I just had Dawn pick up the same things. Do you actually read anything besides those and the horoscopes?"  
  
"I try not too, occasionally the movie times, if I'm desperate."  
  
"Very funny Slayer. There's some pancakes still in the fridge if you're interested, although it appears to be a little too far past breakfast for that."  
  
"Ha ha right back. I haven't slept for 2 days, I'm allowed a late morning every now and then."  
  
"I know, I'm sorry. Do you want me to make you anything? I don't think we have much in the house, I never made it to the grocery store, sorry."  
  
"No, that's ok, I'm fine."  
  
"I had some other errands to run first." He reached into his duster, which was hanging over the back of his chair. "Now, before you say anything, just hear me out first." He placed a small velvet box on the table.  
  
"That better not be what I think it is Spike."  
  
"Look, I know you feel ridiculous wearing that stupid skull on your finger, it's not you at all, and I wanted to do this. You deserve to have something nice. Please just open it."  
  
She popped the lid open and stared at the white gold band with a small diamond centered in the middle. "Spike, I can't keep accepting these gifts." She closed the lid again, pushing along the surface of the table back towards him. "It's beautiful, it really is, but it must have cost a fortune."  
  
She remembered those words well, the same ones she'd said about the dress he'd bought her, and that confused feeling she got when he brought over the Playstation after he had over heard Dawn desperately asking her for one. He had the new clothes for both the interview and around the house, and had told her he would get the money to take care of the mortgage's late fees. There was no way he had Willy paying him enough to cover any of this. "Spike, where are you getting the money for these things, all the little and not so little gifts you keep popping up with."  
  
She didn't want to accuse him of stealing, because if she was right, she didn't think she could live with the news.  
  
"I came into a little cash is all Slayer, not that big of a deal." He stood abruptly from the table, leaving the ring case where it was amongst the few remaining circulars. "Do you think Dawn's hungry, I don't think she's eaten yet either?"  
  
"Spike, tell me where you got the money for these things. No secrets. I still don't like how that discussion with the envelopes went. We have to be honest with each other about things."  
  
He mumbled something under his breath, and with his back to her, she had no idea what he was saying. "What was that?"  
  
"I sold my car."  
  
"Oh Spike you didn't! Why would you do something like that?"  
  
"You're my family now Buffy, you and Dawn, and I don't know. I saw you all worried about the bills, and getting grocery money, and I thought I could help, hold up my own end of the bargain. I wanted you to have the dress, and this ring. I wanted Dawn to have the game system. Your happiness comes first is all, I thought you would have figured that out by now."  
  
"But you loved that car."  
  
"You forget I love you too. You don't have to wear the ring if you don't want; I'll take it back. I know it was kind of stupid."  
  
"It wasn't stupid at all." He sees she has tears in her eyes, but she doesn't seem to realize. "It might be the nicest thing that anyone's done for me."  
  
He walks over to the table, picking up the case, and opening it for her again. "So will you wear it?" He holds it out, in the palm of his hand and as she nods, he moves to remove her old ring and replace it with the new one.  
  
He hears the back door opening behind him before she sees it and then they both notice someone coming in.  
  
Anya breezes only a few paces ahead of Xander. "We decided to cut the honeymoon short, and oh!"  
  
The suitcases Xander was carrying slip from his hands with hollow thuds on the linoleum. "What the hell is going on here?" 


	19. Chapter 19

Summary: Child protective services looks down on single caregiver so Buffy has to find a "pretend husband". Xander and Anya are honeymooning; Giles is in England, so Spike is her only hope. Fic Challenge from Pamela J. Anderson off of the BuffyspikeDiaries Mailing List.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN, and whoever has rights to these people in court. Do not sue me, I'm poor anyway. The fic idea isn't mine either, it belongs to Pamela, and as of now, there are two other people working on this same challenge.  
  
~Part 19~  
  
Both of the rings in Spike's hands clattered to the ground, and he quickly stooped to pick them up. Neither he nor Buffy responded to Xander in any way.  
  
"Maybe I should repeat myself, what the hell is going on?"  
  
"Spike was giving me a ring." Buffy said, softly, holding her hand out to where Spike was kneeling on the ground. He didn't move to slip the jewelry on her finger.  
  
"Alright, where's Willow? I want to know what spells she's been working on."  
  
"Willow's not here, she moved out a few days after you left, and anyway this isn't a spell Xander."  
  
"You said the same thing the last time Buffy, I was there." Anya began looking through the forgotten newspaper. "Is Willow going to do something like this every time someone breaks up with her?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Buffy looked at her with disbelief. "She didn't break up with Tara, they're doing good, that's where she's been living, with Tara."  
  
"That's not how I heard things were going when we."  
  
"Look, why don't we talk about this later?" Spike slipped the rings into his pocket. He didn't think that either Willow or Tara wanted too many people to know that things were slightly off kilter between them right now. She'd told him about that accidentally as it was.  
  
"I think we need to talk about it right now. Buffy what were you and Spike just doing before we came, and let me just say thank you that we decided to leave without touring the canyon on donkeys."  
  
"Xander, maybe Spike's right, you had to do all of that travelling, and you must be tired."  
  
"Buffy, I'm not leaving until I have an answer. What has everyone been up to?"  
  
"Spike and I got married last week."  
  
"You did what?!" Xander screamed, his face flushing a bright magenta, and Anya went to rub his back.  
  
"So how has the sex been? Xander and I found it so much different after being married, I don't know why." He continued changing colors in the background and Spike chuckled at his appearance. He was a little more at ease now that he realized Buffy was going to stand up to her friend and admit what was going on.  
  
Buffy ignored Anya's comment completely, continuing with her story. "Social services finally caught on to the fact that I've been raising Dawn by myself at the my dad hasn't bothered to contact us or provide any sort of support. They told me that in my particular situation, with no money, no help in care-giving and no education, I wasn't their prime candidate."  
  
"So you married him? Are you out of your mind?" Xander began pacing in front of the island, unable to look at her anymore. "He's a killer Buffy!"  
  
"Would you rather they come and take Dawn away? This was my only choice, and I'm not that sorry I made it. He's been there for Dawn, he went to the meetings with the social workers, took care of me when I was sick. We've been doing just fine until you came back and started being all judgmental."  
  
"I'm sorry being your friend and caring about you makes me all judgmental. Let's go Anya, I don't think I can listen to anymore of this right now."  
  
"But I want to hear about how the sex is."  
  
"Let's go." This time it wasn't a request, more of a growl, and she obediently followed him out of the house. They left the suitcases on the floor.  
  
"How long do you think it'll take them to notice those are there?"  
  
"He meant to leave them, this way when he cools off, he doesn't have to admit he was wrong to come back and talk to me. Why didn't you give me the ring?"  
  
"I didn't want to make trouble."  
  
"So basically, you didn't know what I was going to say to him. You really thought I was going to do something terrible and lie about it didn't you? I can't believe it." She walked away from him and he started to raise his voice.  
  
It really didn't matter to him that she had just spouted wonderful affirmations of how good this had been working, because he had trouble keeping his mouth shut when there was something he wanted to say. "Well what do you want me to think? He doesn't like me, and until a couple of days ago, you weren't that fond of me either."  
  
"I know that, but I've been good. Things have been good. Do we have to do this?"  
  
"What have me bugger it all up?"  
  
"No, talk about this." She bent down, not looking at him and beginning to pick up the ads from the floor.  
  
"We bloody well do!" He was angry with her, more so than he'd been in a long time. He liked to discuss things, she preferred sweeping them under the rug.  
  
"What was Anya talking about with Willow and Tara?" Buffy began realigning the newspaper on the table, sorting it into two piles.  
  
"Fine, you know what, we're not going to talk. I'm going to go have a smoke. When you're ready to carry on a conversation with me like my wife," he said the last word with a tiny bit of hatred in it. "I'll be ready to listen." He smashed the rings onto the countertop and slammed the door on his way out, and Buffy just stood by the table a little stunned, fingering the trinkets and wishing he'd just slipped one on. 


	20. Chapter 20

Summary: Child protective services looks down on single caregiver so Buffy has to find a "pretend husband". Xander and Anya are honeymooning; Giles is in England, so Spike is her only hope. Fic Challenge from Pamela J. Anderson off of the BuffyspikeDiaries Mailing List.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, UPN, and whoever has rights to these people in court. Do not sue me, I'm poor anyway. The fic idea isn't mine either, it belongs to Pamela, and as of now, there are two other people working on this same challenge.  
  
Author's Note: I know the beginning of Part 19 started out nice kinda fluffy, and then it quickly slipped into not so nice and angsty. I'm sorry for any confusion this may have caused you, or how not plausible it seemed in the fic. Real reason for this: I started the part in a good mood and ended it in a not so good one. But don't worry, I'll try to atone with this part. Let me know if it makes up for it. Also, after this part, the story may very well become NC-17. A PG-13 version will still be available here, and the NC-17 parts will be posted elsewhere. Choose to read whichever version is appropriate for you.  
  
~Part 20~  
  
Spike didn't get too far, what with it being the middle of the afternoon and all, but he sat sulking on the back porch, occasionally shying away from sun rays that managed to slip past the awning. Had a few more hours before the light cleared the house completely.  
  
He didn't have any cigarettes; he was trying to give them up after Buffy had taken his pack away before their interview. The only spares he had left were in the glove compartment of his car. Which he had given away for her.  
  
He kicked at a piece of lawn furniture and watched it tumble and turned to see if she'd noticed he'd only made it to just outside the door.  
  
But she hadn't.  
  
He watched her, still messing with the paper, and absently wiping at her cheeks, and he felt like such a jerk. She'd done the nicest thing anyone had bothered to in such a long time and he yelled at her; made her cry.  
  
He wasn't mad at her, not really. She'd stood up for him, and not just to some stranger either, but to one of her best friends. She'd rather have him happy than Xander.  
  
But he just wasn't sure he was deserving of that. The more she said, the more he tried to realize what this might mean to her, and if he was worthy of any of it.  
  
The whole situation had unnerved him more than anything else, thrown him off guard. He'd expected that Bit might come in, pink lips forming a big o and then jumping up and down, getting all excited. Or that maybe Giles would call again, Buffy never had gotten around to returning his first, or the witches would drop by unexpectedly. But never the whelp and his no longer demon bride, he'd never entered that into the equation.  
  
He gave the plastic chair another swipe, but then righted it, and went back into the house. "I'm sorry Buffy. I really am. What I did was hurtful and immature, and you were so good to me, and I'm sorry." He hung his head down, towards his feet, and watched as they scuffed at the welcome mat.  
  
"Come here." He looked up at her, unsure if it was a request or a command, and focussed on her trembling lower lip. "Please."  
  
He reached her in only two steps, cradling her face with her palms. "I do stupid things sometimes, and I don't mean to, at least I hope that I don't, but these horrible words will spill out of my mouth, and God I hate hurting you."  
  
Her eyes were blinking very fast, as she tried to hold back her tears, but when he brushed at lashes they all tumbled out anyway. "This is going to be hard for me to say, so you just have to let me try, don't stop me until I'm finished. Can you do that?  
  
He nodded at her and she continued. "This is a very horrible thing for me to say, and I know that, but it's just as horrible for me to have these thoughts running around in my head, so I might as well share them. I always kind of blamed my mother for how things worked out with my dad. She'd pick on these little things, and she couldn't let anything that he did go, and it's dumb, but maybe if she just kept quiet he would've stayed.  
  
"Like this one time we were going to the beach and he didn't fill up the gas tank before we left. She was putting sunscreen all over Dawn, and asked if he could go and take care of that before we left, and he told her he would. He wouldn't forget on purpose, I know that. But he didn't do it for whatever reason and we ran out on the highway. She went on about it for days afterwards; his irresponsibility, and the lack of consideration he had for his family.  
  
"He apologized the first time she said anything, on the shoulder, and then he walked over a mile to get enough gas so we could make it to the nearest station. He refused to offer an apology to her again, and I think she just wanted him to feel guilty.  
  
"She did this with a lot of things, and she didn't mean to, but I don't think she could let him win, because that's what it was between them, who won. If she was right, she deserved the victory tally put up on her side of the board and she didn't want him to forget for an instance that she had bested him.  
  
"I don't want to end up like my mother, I don't want to drive a man away anymore than I already have a tendency to do. I will let things go, let them fester inside of me rather than between us because I never want to hear anyone accuse me of what I just said.  
  
"I'm strong, I know I can work things out, move past them, but I can't stand the tension, the heaviness that everything takes on, how it makes breathing an effort. I know you like to talk, feel like you're working at something, solving it, making it better, but I can't do it Spike. I can't. It shuts me down inside.  
  
"I will avoid a fight with people I care about more than anything else, because I just couldn't stand the idea of them being gone.  
  
"Everything I said to Xander was true, every word of it, but there's something I left out," Spike's eyes got a little bigger, and one of his eyebrows twitched up when he tilted his head. His thinking pose. "I value you being here, and doing all of this for me. You have been more than a friend to me these past few days, you listen and you help me out and I can trust you. I've been thinking about it, how you took care of me, and the house and Dawn and I don't deserve any of this."  
  
"I was thinking the exact same thing pet." They both laughed.  
  
"You promised you'd let me finish."  
  
"You're right, I did. I apologize. Go on."  
  
"Well, as I was saying, I don't deserve any of this, I've screwed up with guys so much in the past, and I've hurt a lot of them. I don't want to do that to you, and I'm afraid that I might," he moved to open his mouth, but she placed her index finger on his lips. "Still my turn. I'm afraid I might hurt you, because of what I'm going to say right now. I know you love me, I do, and I think I love you back.  
  
His hand fell her cheeks and hung limply at his sides. "This isn't a joke, I do care about you, and it took someone doubting that for me to notice how much I do. I would be so happy to wear your ring and I'm going to call Giles right now and tell him this whole story. I was worried before about how he'd react, but right now I don't really care."  
  
"You're going to do all that for me?" He was completely shocked; this was another thing he never would have fit into the equation.  
  
"For the man I love, of course. But first I'm going to need a kiss."  
  
"That I can provide." He leaned in and kissed her, softly on the mouth, and she parted her lips so he could find her tongue.  
  
When they broke away, his eyes wild and her blood noticeably pumping in his ears, she took a few breaths before she was able to say anything to him. "Thank you, very much."  
  
"Happy to oblige." He moved towards her again, but she put her hand up on his chest.  
  
"My phone call now, more fun later."  
  
"And what am I supposed to do while you make your long distance transaction?"  
  
She smiled coyly and turned away to dial the telephone. "Why don't you go move the cot back into the basement?" 


End file.
